MHS BOYS BASKETBALL: Mexico High School basketball Bulldogs advanced to the championship game at the Montgomery County R-6 Tournament after beating New Haven 59-28 Thursday night.

"The team did a good job overall and were ready to play," stated MHS coach Brennan Scanlon.

The Bulldogs took control early, leading at the half 39-12.

Mexico had three players in double figures. Leading the way for the Bulldogs was sophomore Cole Jaramillo with 22 points, followed by senior Jake Willer with 14P and senior forward Jon Anderson with 12P.

The top-seed Bulldogs return to action Saturday at 7:30 p.m. when they play the second-seed Fulton Hornets.

MMS EIGHTH GRADE GIRLS: Playing without three of their starters due to illness took the Mexico Middle School Lady Bulldogs out of their normal rhythm during the third-place game against Fulton in the Centralia Tournament. Fulton won 28-12 with a halftime score 6-2 Fulton.

"We struggled with turnovers but everyone played hard and made a contribution," said MMS coach Cindy Allison.

"We are seeing tougher competition as our season goes on. A lot of our matches were close and it is very good experience for our boys to have those close matches," Coach Brendan Stuart reports.

Next competition for the Middle School Mat Dawgs will be Tuesday at Marceline.

MMS BASKETBALL: The seventh grade Bulldogs improved their record to 2-0 in a hard fought battle with the Warrenton Warriors Thursday evening, winning in close fashion, 35-32.

The Bulldogs led at each of the quarters 9-7, 14-9, and 20-13. The Bulldogs came out on fire from the 3-point line, sinking their first four attempts, with Cameron Holman connecting on three and ending with 11P. Michael White put together another solid effort with 11P, scoring in every quarter. Other scorers for the Bulldogs were Deion Wayman 4P, Avion Williams 3P, Malik Sheets 2P, Quinton Baumgartner 2P and J'Marquay McGrueder with 2 important free throws to help seal the victory.

Page 2 of 2 - "This was a physical game and I was proud of the way our boys handled themselves and finished the game when the score got close. Our defensive intensity was incredible, however we have to work on handling ball pressure," Coach Brandon Schafer said.

In B team action, Colton Johnson scored the Bulldogs' only points in a 2-2 tie.

COMMUNITY R-6 BOYS: The Community R-6 Trojans boys basketball team lost its season opener Tuesday night in a close game against the Mark Twain Tigers. The final was 59-51. The Trojans had two players in double figures, Justin Durham scored 16 while Clay Thebeau scored 10; Conner Brooks had 9 points with one 3-point basket; Lane Thebeau scored 5P, with 1 3-pointer. Tyler Mays 4P, Shane Myers scored on a 3-point basket and Kaleb Harris and Kyle Curtis each had 2P. Curtis (5) and Durham (4) lead in rebounds, while Myers had 3 steals.

R-6 coach Bob Curtis said he was very pleased with the defensive effort allowing only 5 points at the break. R-6 had 10 different players score in the win and got a lot of floor time for all the varsity girls. "The depth we have this season really played a big part in our ability to keep pushing the tempo and creating turnovers," said the coach.

Senior foward Paige Harris had another solid game with 8 points, followed by junior Emmalee McCoskey with 8, and Paige Curtis with 7. Julie Hale led in steals with three and Danielle Brooks had 4 assists. For Van-Far Renee Nelson scored 4P.

SCORE BY QUARTERS:

R-6 8, 16, 14, 4

Van-Far 2, 3, 3, 0

The Lady Trojans return to the court tonight at home against Madison.

In junior varsity action R-6 defeated Van-Far 29-10. Leading the way for the Lady Trojans were Danielle Brooks and Rebecca Hagan, with 8 points each, followed by Karissa Graves with 6P and Sam Jackson, 4.

NORTH CALLAWAY BASKETBALL: The North Callaway Ladybirds junior varsity team had trouble finding the basket in the fourth quarter of the game. At the end of the third quarter the score was 12-12. Then in the fourth quarter, New Haven outscored North Callaway 22-4 with the final score 34-16 New Haven.

For North Callaway Taylor Wiseman scored 5, while Erinn Bush had 4P. For New Haven Erin Scheer had 7P.